Cable conveyor



Jul 28,1959 1 LYTJDMGLE {2,896,772

CABLE CONVEYOR Filed Aug. 12, 1957 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f g v l mun/mm r: M150; BY

L; T. DAlGLE CABLE CONVEYOR July 28, 1959 2 Sheets-SheetR Filed Aug. 12, 1957 mmvrok. (0 7: DA/Gl' Unite States Patent CABLE CONVEYOR Leo T. Daigle, Detroit, Mich., assiguor to Dearborn Fabricating -& Engineering Company, Detroit, M1ch., a corporation of Michigan Application August 12, 1957, Serial No. 677,664

5 Claims. (Cl. 198177) and positionable within said bracket for holding down and securing said buttons and cable elements fixedly therein.

It is another object herein to provide a simplified cable conveyor assembly for suspension from and movement along a flanged beam and incorporating a novel load carrying means and novel cable securing means in conjunction with supporting means for a pair of rollers positionable upon said beam.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claims in conjunction with the appended drawi-ngs in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the present conveyor assembly.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view with the beam partly broken away and sectioned.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of a slightly different form of cable conveyor with the supporting beam fragmentarily shown.

Fig. 6 is a central vertical cross sectional view of Fig. 5.

It will be understood that the above drawings illustrate merely a preferred embodiment of the invention and that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claims hereinafter set forth.

Referring to the drawings, one type of beam 11 is fragmentarily shown in Figs. 2 and 5 including the lower roller receiving flange 12. The present cable conveyor is adapted for suspension from and movement along said beam flange, and includes the pair of opposed rollers or wheels 13, each with its individual mounting spindle 14 secured within the head 15 of the respective opposed upright arms 16 by means of nuts 17.

The lower ends of arms 16 terminate in the pair of opposed downwardly depending holddown lugs 18 which are in vertical engagement along the line 19, Fig. 2. Lugs 13, as shown in Fig. 4, are arranged transversely of arms 16, are substantially rectangular and are adapted to be loosely and cooperatively received within the upwardly opening longitudinally extending recess 20' defined by the bifurcated walls 20 of upright body 21.

Said body is adapted to support a load and for this purpose terminates in the depending central load carrying lug 24 transversely apertured at 25. The body 21 open to its interior has flat bottom wall portions 26 at the base of its upwardly opening recess, there being formed within said base and extending there below 2 the horizontally elongated semibircular recess 27 intermediate the ends thereof.

This recess defines in the bottom wall 26 end thrust shoulders 28 adapted to retainingly engage registering buttons 31 secured immovably upon the ends of a pair of aligned cables. Recess 27 terminates at its ends in the elongated semi-circular slots 29 of a reduced radius formed in bottom wall 26 adapted to receive portions of the-cables 30, as shown in Fig. 3.

The above mentioned depending lugs 18 are sl-idably and snugly projected within upwardly opening body recess 20. Opposed undercut recesses 35 are formed within the undersurfaces of lugs '18 adapted .to cooperatively receive the portions of buttons 31, as shown in Fig. 4. These "recesses are of the same length as the semi-circular recess 27 of Fig. 3, and define within lugs 18, the depending cable holddown elements34, portions of which rest upon bottom wall 26.

The recesses 35 thus define'end thrust shoulders 36 adapted to retainingly receive outer ends of buttons 31 in cooperation with end thrust shoulders 28 formed in body '21.

Inner opposed portions in the undersurfaces of hold down elements 34 have elongated arcuate recesses 37, each having an extent of approximately 90 degrees. These recesses cooperatively receive the upper arcuate portions of cables 30 in the manner shown in Figs. 2

and-- 1. Accordingly the lugs '18 as assembled in Fig.

2 additionally hold down the buttons 31 and corresponding cables 30, there being suitable transverse apertures formed through said body and lugs to receive the securing bolts 22.. These are fixedly secured by the nuts 23 with suitable lock washers interposed. Portions of the body adjacent its upper end and adjacent said appertures have polygonal recesses 29' adapted to receive the heads of said bolts preventing rotation thereof.

A cavity 32 is formed within body 21 centrally thereof and below recess 27 adapted to collect any moisture. A suitable drain passage 33 communicates with said cavity and with the exterior of said body as shown in Fig. 2.

The outer ends of the cable receiving recess and slots 29 and 37 are outwardly flared at 38 to accommodate portions of the cables 30 on angular bending thereof, as where the conveyor element negotiates turns and to thus provide a clearance for such bent cable.

A slight variation of the present invention is shown in Fig. 5 wherein a similar type of body and wheel assembly is shown except that the opposing upright arms 43 are bifurcated and have mounted at 41 and 42 a pair of rollers 40 movably positioned upon flanges 12 on opposite sides of beam 11. Such a construction may be used with a suitable bracket for suspending chairs in a ski lift, for example.

The opposed arms 43 similarly terminate in the depending registering lugs 44 similar to lugs 18 of Fig. 2, and are similarly positioned within a corresponding upwardly opening recess within the upright body 45 and bolted thereto at 46.

Said body and lugs 44 are of a construction substantially the same as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 for the purpose of retainingly securing and holding down similar registering buttons upon the ends of a pair of cable elements 47. A pair of opposed upright plates 48 are arranged upon opposite sides of body 45 and secured thereto by a series of transverse bolts 49. Chair suspension bracket 50 is interposed between plates 48, one of which is shown, and pivotally connected thereto at 51.

A secondary safety cable 53 extends between plates 48 adjacent the transverse recess 52 formed therethrough. A conventional type of cable clamp 54 is anchored upon one side of the plates 48 and extends transversely through I r 2,896,772 a, I

recesses 52 encompassing cable 53. Suitable nuts are secured upon the free ends of said clamp for operative engagement with plate 48 for efiectively clamping said plates and said auxiliary cable together.

Accordingly should there be a break between the respective cables 47, the cable conveyor assembly may nevertheless be drawn along the beam through longitudinal force exerted by safety cable 53.

Having described my invention, reference should now be had to the following claims.

I claim:

l. A cable conveyor adapted for suspension from and movement along a flanged beam comprising an upright body adapted to support a load and having a upwardly opening recess extending longitudinally therethrough, there being a flattened bottom wall on the body interior at'the base of said recess, there being a horizontally elongated semi-circular recess formed in said bottom wall intermediate its ends defining end thrust shoulders there in, said recess terminating at is ends in elongated semicircular. slots of reduced radius formed in said bottom wall adapted to receive portions of a pair of aligned cables, registering cylindrical buttons secured on the ends of said cables nested within said elongated recess retainingly engaged by said shoulders, and a pair of opposed upright arms carrying rollers at their upper ends, their lower ends terminating in a pair of opposed engaging downwardly depending holddown lugs nested within the said upwardly opening recess, said lugs having undercut 2. In the cable conveyor of claim 1, the undercut means of said lugs including opposed downwardly open ing recesses therein cooperatively receiving portions of said buttons, and defining. in said lugs interior end thrust shoulders retainingly engageable with said buttons, portions of the undersurface of said lugs at their opposite ends having elongated arcuate recesses to cooperatively receive said cables.

3. In the cable conveyor of claim 1, the outer ends of said cable slots in said body and in the cable recesses in said hold down lugs being outwardly flared to cooperatively receive angularly bent portions of said cables.

4. In the cable conveyor of claim 1, said body and lugs having-transverse registering apertures to receive said bolts, portions of said body at the one ends of said apertures having polygonal shaped recesses to retainingly receive the heads of said bolts.

5. In the cable conveyor of claim 1, a pair of parallel spaced plates on opposite sides of said body secured thereto and depending therefrom, adapted to receive there between a secondary drive cable, and a cable clamp mounted transversely upon said plates encompassing said secondarycable and fixedly secured thereto and to said plates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

